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The Forum > General Discussion > No more Outlook Express!

No more Outlook Express!

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Yabby: "I checked the specifications this morning on the website and oh dear, only Windows drivers."

The reason they only offer Windows drivers is Linux supports the device as standard since October 2008.

http://www.marshalltradecorp.com/coDe/misc/usb_microscope_linux.html

Why is it supported? Well the chip it uses internally is used by a lot devices. In the Windows world this is hidden. Every OEM re-badges the things, supply their own re-badged software that only works with their specific device. I can only guess why they do this. Maybe so they can claim their product is somehow better, with no easy way for you to check. Maybe so their software can stick their logos and brand name under your nose every time you use the device.

Under Linux the situation is different. The driver is written by volunteers. They aren't about to engage in those sorts of games of course, as it just creates more work for them. Thus the one Linux driver will just work with every device that uses that same chip internally.

You will probably find this product is identical under the hood:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270502851295

As you can see, it is selling for AUD$47, delivered. There is also a 400x version:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270496122455

So in this case, you may well have been better off with Linux. At the very least if you move machines and have mislaid the driver CD, you can still use it. And since it outputs data via a standard Linux subsystem, all Linux software will support it - not just what is supplied by the manufacturer.

That said, a cautious person won't just assume Linux would support it. You have to spend 15 minutes with Google to check. And if it doesn't, you are out of luck - you have to find one with a different chip set. As you said, some will find this far too fiddly compared with just using Windows. But as you can also see, knowing a little more about what you are buying often has its own rewards.
Posted by rstuart, Saturday, 13 February 2010 9:36:38 PM
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*You have to spend 15 minutes with Google to check. And if it doesn't, you are out of luck - you have to find one with a different chip set. As you said, some will find this far too fiddly compared with just using Windows.*

Rstuart, I doubt very much if those devices will do 200 or 400
magnification of any usefullness, but they should do 50, which is
all I really need for most things. I read the first URL which you
posted, now it seems that in some cases there is a lot of tinkering,
checking etc, with each device. So yes, for me that would be too
fiddly.

There are reasons for that. If I lived in the city, spent most of
my time in an office, perhaps I would want to tinker too :).

But between a farm, a workshop and a house, I have that many things
with that many manuals and problems to solve, I already do huge
amounts of tinkering nearly every day, so some things I want to
outsource, let others figure it all out. I just want the thing to
run!

I just wish that there were more common standards, life would be
that much easier. In my workshop for instance, I need to carry
various bolts with various threads. There is Whitworth, then of
cource UNC and UNF, then metric fine and metric course. That is just
bolts!

With tractors, I have a John Deere. One of the main reasons I bought
it, was because everyone around here has a John Deere, so for parts,
breakdowns, both are easily solved. Those with exotic machines can
be stuffed for weeks, no parts sorry and no mechanic who knows about
them.

So there are numerous examples, where sticking to the standard
pays off in my situation. But then I'm not in an office all day, staring at a computer in front of me, even bored perhaps.
Posted by Yabby, Sunday, 14 February 2010 10:54:16 AM
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Yabby: "I read the first URL which you posted, now it seems that in some cases there is a lot of tinkering, checking etc, with each device. So yes, for me that would be too fiddly"

Indeed it would. But my point was as of October 2008 the driver was included as a standard part of the Linux. So, no fiddling is required after that date.

Yabby: "There is Whitworth, then of cource UNC and UNF, then metric fine and metric course. That is just bolts!"

Don't get me started.

I think it is safe to blame the US for the current state of affairs. Had they had the spine to move over to metric when the rest of us did, ours would have been the last generation that had to put up with this crap, for nuts and bolts anyway.
Posted by rstuart, Sunday, 14 February 2010 2:29:19 PM
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Yikes, Yabby.

I hadn't realized quite how deeply you had supped the Microsoft Koolaid. You are word perfect.

>>Given that a cup of coffee now costs 4$ in many places, I
don't think that 20$ a year for my computer operating system, is
that unreasonable<<

So true. But what about the cost of your latest move to Windows 7? Including the cost of installing all your programs again, from scratch?

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd446674%28WS.10%29.aspx

>>lets say 1000$ spent with MS, over 15 years of use, that's 66$ a year, hardly huge money.<<

Absolutely.

However, anti-virus software is a necessity. After all, IE and Outlook are the major targets for viruses.

Makes it just a little more significant than a few cups of coffee. But not too much more. They know how much pain they can safely inflict.

The messages you have subliminally assimilated are exactly what makes Microsoft so wealthy. You are prepared to pay a regular amount to them, in exchange for some - mostly illusory - peace of mind.

So, you're happy with Microsoft. That's great. You are in the company of many millions of others who have come to rely upon Microsoft to tell them how smart they are for buying their products. Over and over again.

>>it makes sense to be part of the standard and the reality is that MS is still the standard<<

That's what they would love you to believe.

>>I just wish that there were more common standards, life would be
that much easier.<<

Microsoft are passionate devotees of "standards" too.

So long as they are their own.

Anything that looks like an open standard - i.e., one where everybody works on a level playing field - is anathema to Redmond.

If you'd like, I can post some interesting information on Microsoft's pursuit of ratification of OOXML as a "standard".

But it is mostly documented by what Microsoft encourages you to you term "fanatics", so it is unlikely to have any impact.

>>I'll let you fanatical types do the tinkering and creating competition for MS.<<

And I'll let you continue paying your Microsoft tax.
Posted by Pericles, Sunday, 14 February 2010 4:38:39 PM
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*So true. But what about the cost of your latest move to Windows 7? Including the cost of installing all your programs again, from scratch?*

Pericles, I am not even sure how much less they would charge, without
a copy of Windows 7. I'll ask my supplier, next time I see him.
As to programmes and files, his offsider came out, she did it all
for me. There is a cable that connects the two machines, but for
Office I needed by original discs, which I still had. Say it adds
100$ to the machine, over 5 years I'm back to 20 bucks a year.

Anti virus, yes I used to pay CA for VET, 50$ a year. Now it seems
MS offer a free programme, so I now use that.

*The messages you have subliminally assimilated are exactly what makes Microsoft so wealthy. You are prepared to pay a regular amount to them, in exchange for some - mostly illusory - peace of mind.*

Err so what if they are wealthy? I have never suffered from envy.
For me its about value for money and convenience. I want to use
my computer for fun, for business etc, for that what I pay is
basically peanuts.

*Microsoft are passionate devotees of "standards" too.
So long as they are their own.*

Indeed. They are acting like many large corporates do, driven on
by super fund managers who want a larger paycheck. So we have Govt
regulators to prevent them being too greedy, then of course the
army of anti microsoft people like Rawmustard, yourself and others,
who are passionate about them not succeeding. So why should I worry? :)

But you have got me curious now, so one day when I buy a laptop,
I might just do the exercise and see how well it matches up with
Linux etc. Meantime there is no good reason why my 10 year old
copy of Office, should not do another 10 years on this machine,
or the next machine.
Posted by Yabby, Sunday, 14 February 2010 6:28:47 PM
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Yabby: "Meantime there is no good reason why my 10 year old copy of Office, should not do another 10 years on this machine, or the next machine."

Actually, there is a reason why it won't.

With every release of Office, Microsoft changes the file formats it uses, so no older version can read it. But after a few months Microsoft in their infinite generosity releases a plugin for the previous version of Office that lets it read the new format - but only for the previous version of office.

Microsoft doesn't sell old versions of office, and you can't buy a second hand one as Microsoft's license forbids it. So over time, if a growing organisation doesn't regularly upgrade all their copies office they will end up producing documents some parts of the company can't read. Obviously enough that ends up being intolerable.

Microsoft has developed a particularly effective way of exploiting this at Universities. At the start of each year they give away time bombed copies to the new students. These copies work for 6 months or so, then the students must pay for them. Seems like a harmless enough promotion, until you realise the Uni's start getting assignments they can't read. So they upgrade, then start issuing documents the older students can't read. So they upgrade, then start emailing resumes to companies that can't read them.

It is very clever or insidious, depending on your point of view.

There is a way off the treadmill. Use Open Office. It is free, does the same job as office, and will be updated to read the newer office formats sooner than the old versions of office.

I naively used to think people would get the sh1ts with this and get off the treadmill. After all, there has been no significant new features since Office 95 or so. But you got to hand it to Microsoft. They keep the level of pain tolerable. Everyone seems to think paying for the new version is less painful than retraining everybody to use the alternative.
Posted by rstuart, Sunday, 14 February 2010 7:45:12 PM
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